Bus driver suspended after letting man on bus headed for LT

BROOKFIELD – The man who boarded a school bus taking students to Lyons Township High School on Tuesday morning and handed out rap CDs has been identified as the 36-year-old parent of an LT student, Brookfield police said Friday. Police spoke with the man, but no charges have been filed against him.

On Thursday, the driver of the bus was suspended.

The man, a La Grange resident, boarded the bus at Shields and Raymond avenues in Brookfield, according to a Brookfield police officer who spoke with a 17-year-old LT student who was on the bus. The man began handing out CDs with rap music to students.

Video surveillance showed that the man asked the bus driver if he could board the bus to hand out the CDs. The driver said, "OK, real quick," at which point the man got on to the bus and distributed the CDs, which he said he had produced with "Kruel Beatz."

The man then asked the driver to wait while he retrieved more CDs, which the driver did, before getting back on the bus and handing out more of them. He also told the students, "if any of you have talents hit them up on Facebook."

The bus driver, when contacted by Brookfield police, said he thought the man was one of the students on the route. The driver said he drives the route every day.

First Student, the bus company, suspended the driver Thursday pending the outcome of an investigation. The company said the driver has been employed with First Student since July 2010 and has had no previous issues.

"It's concerning to us that this could happen," District 204 Superintendent Timothy Kilrea said. "Student safety is our top priority. We have addressed the concerns with our bus company and will continue to do so."

Kilrea said he could not recall a similar incident occuring in the past.

"It's very odd, very concerning to us," he said.

The incident was reported to the police by a mother of a student on the bus.

LT officials sent an email to parents of students on the bus route Wednesday night regarding the incident. LT spokesperson Jennifer Bialobok said First Student has assured the school that it is taking the incident seriously and that the company sent a message to its employees reminding them of protocol.

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